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The preservative effects of low temperature on biological materials have been long recognised, and cryopreservation is now widely used in biomedicine, including in organ transplantation, regenerative medicine and drug discovery. The lack of organs for transplantation constitutes a major medical challenge, stemming largely from the inability to preserve donated organs until a suitable recipient is found. Here, we review the latest cryopreservation methods and applications. We describe the main challenges—scaling up to large volumes and complex tissues, preventing ice formation and mitigating cryoprotectant toxicity—discuss advantages and disadvantages of current methods and outline prospects for the future of the field.

Human biostasis, the preservation of a human when all other contemporary options for extension of quality life are exhausted, offers the speculative potential for survival via continuation of life in the future. While provably reversible preservation, also known as suspended animation, is not yet possible for humans, the primary justification for contemporary biostasis is the preservation of the brain, which is broadly considered the seat of memories, personality, and identity. By preserving the information contained within the brain’s structures, it may be possible to resuscitate a healthy whole individual using advanced future technologies. There are numerous challenges in biostasis, including inadequacies in current preservation techniques, methods to evaluate the quality of preservation, and potential future revival technologies. In this report, we describe a roadmap that attempts to delineate research directions that could improve the field of biostasis, focusing on optimizing preservation protocols and establishing metrics for querying preservation quality, as well as pre- and post-cardiac arrest factors, stabilization strategies, and methods for long-term preservation. We acknowledge the highly theoretical nature of future revival technologies and the importance of achieving high-fidelity brain preservation to maximize the potential of future repair technologies. We plan to update the research roadmap biennially. Our goal is to encourage multidisciplinary communication and collaboration in this field.

This research examines the practice of cryonics and provides empirical evidence for an improved understanding of the motivations and attitudes of participants. Cryonics is the freezing of a person who has died of a disease in hopes of restoring life at some future time when a cure may be available. So far, about 300 people have been cryopreserved, and an additional 1200 have enrolled in such programs. The current work has three vectors. First, the results of a worldwide cryonics survey (n = 316) carried out as part of this research are discussed. Second, a theoretical model is developed from the survey results to propose a Theory of Cryonic Life Extension which explains an individual’s decision to select cryopreservation. Third, the most distinctive survey result, a conceptualization of personal identity malleability, is extended with a philosophical formulation. Personal identity is found to be emergent, not fundamental, and thus may continue to evolve in concept and application, particularly in the longer time frames implicated by cryonics. The potential consequences of this work are that the conceptual norms materializing in the cryonics community could be forerunners of wider societal trends of how humans understand themselves as subjects in an era increasingly configured by science and technology.

Long description: Der Tod ist vielen nicht geheuer. Über den Tod hinauszuschauen, löst bei manch einem allerdings ebenso großes Unbehagen aus. Zwar versprechen die Religionen ein ewiges Leben. Doch sollte man in einer aufgeklärten Gesellschaft prähistorische, mythische und jeglicher Logik widersprechende Inhalte nicht hinterfragen? Im Gegensatz zu den Religionen streben die auf gesicherte Erkenntnis ausgerichteten Wissenschaften danach, das Leben stetig zu verlängern. Ihnen geht es nicht um Jahre, sondern um Jahrhunderte und möglicherweise darum, was das Individuum als Ewigkeit empfindet. Fußen solche Vorstellungen auf einem Wahn technischer Machbarkeit, oder ist deren Umsetzung den Wissenschaftlern tatsächlich zuzutrauen? Und was ist mit jenen Menschen, die weder religiös noch wissenschaftsgläubig sind? Setzen sich diese nach ihrem Tod dem ewigen Nichts aus – oder doch nicht? Können wir Menschen das Unbekannte und Geheimnisvolle der zeitlosen Ewigkeitsstrukturen nach dem Tod überhaupt durchschauen und begreifen? Gert Hellerich geht diesen Fragen nach und gibt Antworten. Biographical note: Gert Hellerich, *1941 in Weimar, studierte an der Universität Darmstadt, der Andrews University in Berrien Springs und der Universität Wien. Nach der Promotion an der University of Kansas 1967 forschte er an der Yale University (1969–1971). Seine Lehrtätigkeit erstreckte sich vom Lambuth College (1967–1969) über die Hochschule Bremen (1971–1988 sowie 1990–2004) bis zur University of Central Florida (1988–1990). Darüber hinaus kann er zahlreiche Veröffentlichungen in Zeitschriften und Sammelbänden vorweisen.